Image Credit: YouTube/Okanagan Roller Derby Association
March 13, 2015 - 4:28 PM
KELOWNA - The junior hockey season may be over soon, but don't dispair, the roller derby season in the Okanagan is just getting started.
The Okanagan Roller Derby Association kicks off the season Saturday, March 14 at the Central Sports Club at 1155 Ellis St. with the Kelowna's Bad Apple Betties taking on the Penticton Pisterolas. Tickets are $10 for adults, while children 10 and under are free. They can be purchased from the players, at Leo's Video and at the door. Doors open at 6:30 p.m and the game starts at 7 p.m.
“We are really excited to be back for our 2015 season after training all winter; our fans will be proud of how our skills have grown since the end of our 2014 season, creating a more exciting game to watch,” Association president Scott Cooper, also known as Billie da Skid, says in a media release. “Watching this sport is a great way to spend your Saturday night here in Kelowna. We are a family friendly sport.”
According to the media release, roller derby is the fastest growing women's sport in the world. There are more than 1,000 women's leagues in 36 countries with tens of thousands of players.
It's a contact sport with two teams of women roller skating in formation around an oval track. Points are scored when the "jammer," who is the designated scoring player, laps members of the opposing team.
“One of the great things about roller derby is that anyone and everyone can play,” Cooper says in the release. “Our teams are composed of women of many different skill levels and body shapes for that matter."
He says roller derby is one of the only sports that welcomes everyone despite age, shape, personality, or ability. Players range in age from their early 20s to their late 40s.
"They are are graphic designers, yoga instructors, university students, stay-at-home moms, massage therapists, you name it, we got it.”
The Okanagan Roller Derby league is an all female flat track league and is 100 per cent skater-owned. It was founded in 2009 and now has more than 60 skaters. For more about the league visit the Okanagan Roller Derby website.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw at aproskiw@infonews.ca or call 250-718-0428. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015